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Artists & creators on Patreon are being exploited, and it’s only getting worse. I’m helping to build a better alternative where creators equally own and democratically control the entire platform, sign up for an invite!http://comradery.co (RTs are really appreciated)
Platforms like Patreon and OnlyFans push you to work long hours and offer tons of content to ‘build your subscription business’, but hardly anyone makes a living on Patreon. In fact, less than 2% even make US federal minimum wage https://theoutline.com/post/2571/no-one-makes-a-living-on-patreon?zd=4&zi=ed65642v
What does this mean? That means that creators accept all the risk, and patreon reaps the reward of whatever money you make, risk free.
Many creators don’t want a full time ‘business’- they just want a place for fans to support work they do elsewhere. Patreon is making this more difficult than ever. Now they are even banning patreon creators for posting NSFW content NOT ON PATREON https://www.vice.com/amp/en_us/article/xg8qqq/onlyfans-cutting-creator-referral-program-bonuses-payout?__twitter_impression=true
Patreon only cares about metrics from high earners. Their two internal metrics are 1- how many creators make more than $1000 per month, and 2- the total amount of money all over-$1000 creators make. More about their business model here https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/12/patreon-ec-1/?guccounter=1
High earners get personalized white glove treatment and all the platform investment, everyone else is left working unpaid overtime trying to break through to that level.
A year ago @FoldableHuman predicted that Patreon will pivot to capitulate investor demands, a slow degradation of the core experience. These are all coming true! Even pivoting to t-shirts https://twitter.com/FoldableHuman/status/1092846201374892032
A lot of creators moved to OnlyFans, even though they take a whopping 20% off the top, they had a solid referral program that could make you some good money. NOT ANYMORE! https://www.vice.com/amp/en_us/article/xg8qqq/onlyfans-cutting-creator-referral-program-bonuses-payout
The truth is, when investor-backed platforms grow, the majority of users always suffer most. Patreon and OnlyFans convert the hard, unpaid work of thousands of users into 10x or 100x profit for investors.
Even after all this, Patreon is still not profitable enough for investors to be happy, so we should expect life to get harder for 99% of creators on the platform.
What can we do about it? Comradery is a new alternative to Patreon and OnlyFans built as a worker cooperative. That means that, as a creator, you own an equal share of the entire platform. AND creators democratically control EVERYTHING. http://comradery.co
I’ve learned about building a collaborative organization with distributed leadership by being a member of @SeattleIWW. The solidarity union model is exactly what the independent creator scene needs, and now we can bring that collective power to controlling the means of production
Dues are only 2.5%, half of the lowest Patreon tier, and one eighth of OnlyFans fees! We can accomplish this because we are not seeking profit, and there are no paid positions. The money I would make comes from supporters donating monthly, just like other creators.
Leadership is done by 5 committees - Good and Welfare, Steering, Tech & Design, Treasury, and Outreach. Anyone can join a committee, and the chairs are elected, all positions are on a volunteer basis. More details on co-op operations here - https://www.comradery.co/p/howcomraderyworks
The important thing about leadership is creating a system that truly encourages members to take on small leadership roles, and encouraging them to take on more leadership responsibility over time. DISTRIBUTED leadership - where no one is consolidating power.
Comradery has a No Cops/No Bosses policy. More relevant than ever, this means that voting members of the platform will not have a conflict of interest and we can keep the community safe. Independent creators and co-ops are welcome, see more here - https://www.comradery.co/p/whofor
If you think this is interesting please spread the word - RT, tweet, tell a creator you know. We want to get folks together from a wide range of industries and disciplines to join the co-op and help develop the organization. Feel free to hit me up on DM or [email protected]
I also want to share the Statement of Anti Racism and Inclusion that was co-authored by Black, POC, and Queer members of Comradery
